Lash of the Whip
by celtic-dreamscape-94
Summary: Sequel to Whiplash. After Red John's capture, a spree of killings occur. They seem to be his work... but in a whole new extremity. Someone is trying to send Red John off with a bang...
1. Saying Goodbye

_**A/N: Haha! New story. The sequel to Whiplash is here. It would be awesome if this was as popular as Whiplash itself...cos that was awesome. So many reviews! *insert dazed expression* But I hope you all enjoy anyway, and I hope it does justice considering how much people loved its prequel. Let's begin! :)**_

Chapter 1. Saying Goodbye.

It wasn't like one of those funerals in films, where it always rains to emphasise the sadness of the moment. The sun was shining, baking the ground. Thin, illuminating strings of light dazzled through the orange and brown leaves of the canopy above. The only water fall in the day would be on the faces of a few gathered around the graveside; tears salty and warm against their pale flesh.

Patrick Jane wrapped his arm protectively around Teresa Lisbon, as her gaze lay fixated on the mahogany wood casket containing her brother. An arrangement of red and white roses lay atop, their soft delicate petals painted with tiny droplets of water. Lisbon hated this. It wasn't her brother's time. It shouldn't have been. She regretted the time that she hadn't spent with him. Regretted the time she hadn't spent with all of her brothers. Tears trickled slowly down her foundation dusted cheeks. She pressed into Patrick's warmth. It was only a small funeral. There weren't that many people who needed to attend. The only family members left were Lisbon and her two other brothers, James and Anthony. Other than that, it was just Jane, Cho, Van Pelt, Rigsby and Minelli.

Dry leaves tumbled through the air in the light breeze, a few becoming trapped among the flowers adorning the casket. Just across the cemetery, the wind grew stronger, whipping up a miniature tornado of leaves, spinning them high into the air before they sprinkled back down to earth.

The minister spoke boldly against the soft swish of the breeze:

_...When I come to the end of the road  
And the sun has set for me  
I want no rites in a gloom filled room  
Why cry for a soul set free _

_Miss me a little - but not too long  
And not with your head bowed low  
Remember the love that we once shared  
Miss me - but let me go..._

It was a poem that Tommy had chosen. Lisbon had never known why he had thought of his own funeral so soon. Maybe it was that his mother and father had passed away long before their own time, so he thought about his mortality long before he should have. But he had always said that he didn't want people to be sad on the day of his funeral. Lisbon was finding that hard. Not often did she spend time with her brothers, but she couldn't bear the thought that one of them was now gone. She had spent her entire childhood looking after the three like she was their mother. Now one of them was lost, and it was hard to take.

Her tears ran heavy against her face, soaking into the chest of Patrick's charcoal black jacket. She gazed across as best as she could through blurred vision at James and Anthony. There had been disagreements between the three of them before Tommy had died, but now, they were both devastated. Their heads hung low, staring down at their brother's casket with long, mournful expressions. They weren't usually the type to cry, but Lisbon could see single, silent tears escaping their matching hazel-green eyes. All four of them had been so closely knit as children, it was so hard to see one of them go, no matter the state of their recent relations.

Before long, the ceremony was coming to a close. The minister was saying his final words in the midday sun. When he finished, Lisbon stepped forward, out of Patrick's embrace and crouched by the casket, pressing a kiss to her fingers and touching them to the polished wood. A final goodbye. A sad smile brought the corner of her lips up briefly as she pushed back up again. She wandered back to Patrick, wrapping her arms around his waist, her head resting on his chest. His hand rubbed gentle soothing circles into her back as a few more hot tears trickled from her eyes. In turn, James and Anthony knelt beside their brother, placing a hand to the casket and murmuring their goodbyes.

It was then time to go. Lisbon nodded her appreciation to the minister, who nodded, a sympathising smile on his lips, before turning with Jane towards the cars. Her eyes fixed on the ground as she walked, watching small daisies and blades of grass pass beneath her feet. She began to blow out long calming breaths, her tears beginning to subside. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up at Van Pelt. Tears had gathered in the red head's eyes as well. She offered a soft smile and wrapped her arms around Lisbon briefly, offering utmost sympathy for her.

Lisbon smiled back, 'Thank you for coming,' she said quietly.

'Of course.'

From behind Grace, Rigsby offered his own kind words before they departed for their cars. Cho walked up, 'Sorry,' he said softly, rubbing Lisbon's shoulder gently. She nodded, smiling at her colleague as best as she could. 'You'll be ok?' Cho asked.

'Yeah, thank you.' Lisbon looked up briefly at Jane, who gave her a reassuring squeeze, before Cho turned and began towards his car. Minelli was the last to offer his condolences before Lisbon's brothers slowly walked up.

'Hey,' James murmured softly, standing with his hands deep in his pockets in front of his sister. 'I-It's nice to see you again, Tess.'

'It shouldn't have been because of something like this,' Lisbon replied, sniffing and dabbing a tear away with her sleeve.

'Can't believe he had to go in the same way as mom...'

'Yeah...but he's in a better place now...right?'

'Right...'

James pulled his sister into a hug as Jane and Anthony nodded their greetings with a flicker of a smile.

'Love you, Tess,' James murmured, his chin rested gently on her shoulder.

Lisbon pulled away with a tearful smile, 'Love you too.'

Anthony was then the one to step forward, pressing a kiss to Lisbon's forehead and taking her into a warm, tight embrace, whispering a soft greeting of 'Heya,' into her ear.

Once the hugging was finished and Lisbon had wiped away the rest of her tears, her arm snaked back round Jane again, finding his smell and warmth comforting. She felt far too vulnerable just standing, without feeling someone close.

'We've got to see each other more often, ok?' she told her brothers.

They both nodded their agreement.

'And keep contact between yourselves. I don't want your relationship to end up like it was with Tommy.'

James' head bowed, he stared at the floor, pushing a blade of grass with the toe of his shoe.

'Do it for him.'

James and Anthony nodded again. 'Ok. We promise,' James said, meeting eyes for a flicker of a moment with his brother. They both gave a soft smile to their sister and her companion, before turning to leave.

Jane gave a soft squeeze, 'Alright?'

'Yeah...let's go.'

With a brief glance back at her third brother's resting place, she let her head fall against Jane's chest as they slowly wandered back to the car.

* * *

With a trail of coats, jackets and shoes lazily strewn across the floor, from the door to the couch, Patrick and Teresa sat cuddling on the sofa, a simple silence hanging between them, with no need to be filled by complicated words. The golden streams of setting sunlight twinkled through the half pulled curtains, sparkling off picture frames and sending showers of light crystals around the room. Patrick gently pressed a tender kiss to the top of Teresa's head, his eyelids fluttering open and closed, a soft, peaceful smile giving his mouth the gentlest of curves.

His hand travelled up and down Teresa's arm with the weight of a feather, soothing, and creating ripples of calm and peace enough for both of them. These were the kind of moments that Patrick had missed out on for the past six years, and now, to be with the woman he truly loved, in an embrace that couldn't be broken by the harshest storm...it was the only place he wanted to be. This was a healing for both of them...to be finally held, loved...and to be able to put their past away, because this was a new beginning.

Patrick could feel a soft stroking sensation dance across his hand as Teresa ran her finger softly along the line of wrist to thumb. He couldn't tell whether it was a subconscious action from beneath a haze of sleepiness, but he took her hand in his own, rubbing his thumb gently over her skin in small ovals. Teresa snuggled her head a little further into Patrick's chest, a feather-light smile tracing over her lips as she watched his thumb draw circles in the back of her hand.

She could hear herself saying she never wanted this to end...this thing between them. For so long she'd wanted someone by her side, someone who would love her and keep her safe, no matter how many times she said she didn't need to be saved. Now it had happened, and nothing before had come even remotely close to this immense feeling of calm and love. He was like a drug to her...

She felt Patrick shift beneath her and slip off the couch. His hand lingered briefly over hers as he got up, before wandering across the room to the stereo system. Teresa's head tilted softly with a curious smile as she watched his finger trace over the rows of CDs above the CD player. He picked one out, she couldn't tell which, and rested it in the tray, pushing it in and pressing the play button.

She heard guitar strings tumble out gorgeous, almost hypnotising notes, as Patrick returned to her, offering his hand out. Teresa smiled, taking his hand and standing from the couch, being led to the centre of the floor. His arm wrapped round her, his other hand carefully holding her hand by their shoulders. Teresa let her head rest on Patrick's shoulder as they began a slow dance, much like their previous dance, but so much more feeling was involved now.

The gentle sounds of Peter Bradley Adam's _Under My Skin _played slow and soft in the background as they turned, in a world of their own, feeling each other's comforting warmth. Patrick lowered his lips to Teresa's neck to place a gentle kiss to her skin. Teresa looked up into his soft green eyes, reaching up a little to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth.

'Love you,' she murmured softly, resting her head just underneath his chin.

Patrick considered those words for a moment, savouring the sound of them, for it was such a long time since those words had been said to him.

'Love you too.'

He smiled to himself. That smile grew wider as he suddenly spun them round faster in a 360 degree spin, before holding his arm out, letting Teresa pirouette beneath it. A soft laughter broke from her lips as she spun, seeing Patrick's wide grin lighting up his features. He pulled her back to his chest, spinning round and round. He lifted her off the ground, turning to place her down on the other side as her laughter continued, making her face glow with happiness - something which needed to be seen after the first half of the day. Eventually, they slowed to a stop when the final strings of the guitar played, and simply looked at each other, with wide smiles plastering their faces. Patrick leaned down briefly, placing a soft kiss on Teresa's lips. A blush crept up into her cheeks as he continued to look at her.

'What?'

Patrick seemed to study her face intently.

'...I'm hungry,' he murmured.

'Huh?'

Patrick grinned, moving off towards the kitchen, receiving a playful hit on the back as he moved away.

'Stay there,' he told her.

He looked over his shoulder briefly, the grin still there as Lisbon fell back on the sofa, sitting sideways so that she could watch Jane suspiciously. Turning back to the kitchen before him, he looked around, figuring out what they could eat. Tapping his chin thoughtfully, he looked at each appliance in turn, thinking of what it could offer them...

Moving with a small skip in his step, he chose the fridge, opening it up wide and studying the contents.

After searching each shelf, he seemed to have a squint-off with the carrots before muttering a, 'meh,' and switching to the freezer.

'A...ha,' Patrick murmured, pulling open one of the freezer drawers. He picked out a large tub of vanilla flavoured ice cream with a grin and shut the freezer, gathering two spoons from a drawer on the other side of the kitchen before going back to the living area.

'Dinner is served!' he declared, placing the tub of ice cream on the table, 'Questions?'

'Ice cream?'

'Yep.'

'For dinner?'

'Of course,' Patrick grinned, holding out a spoon.

Teresa took it slowly, before the grin on Patrick's face made her look down, shaking her head in amusement.

'Now...what's your favourite movie?'

_**A/N: Continue? Please don't continue whatever you do? Love to hear what you think! :)**_


	2. It's Not Over Yet

_**A/N: Ok, I'm sorry for the ridiculously long wait. I was putting it on hold at first because I'd really got into writing my Red Letters fic, but it eventually subsided, and I finally got round to writing more of this one. Thank you SO much for all the reviews on the first chapter, I'm glad everyone enjoyed it. And I hope I'll be able to continue to please. This chapter gets a bit more violent at the end, just to tell you before hand...**_

Chapter 2. It's Not Over Yet.

Patrick's eyes snapped open the following morning, the sun just about to penetrate the curtains and shine rudely in his eyes. He found himself snuggled up behind Teresa in bed, his arm around her waist, pulling her close to him, his knees bent to fit perfectly into her shape. The tip of his chin was just brushing her shoulder. He remembered the night of ice cream and old movies last night, which he had known would continue to cheer Teresa up further after their dance. They had ended the evening at about half eleven, almost stumbling up the stairs in their half-slumbering condition. Falling into bed, they had curled up together, in almost exactly the same position that Patrick found them in this morning. He smiled softly, pressing a few kisses just behind Teresa's collarbone. The warmth of his lips on her skin caused her to mumble in her sleep.

'Oi...I'm sleeping,' she murmured softly.

It caused a boyish grin to spread over his face as he repeated the motion, but this time placing the kiss on her neck. Teresa squirmed a little, trying to snuggle into the comfort of the bed and ignore the series of sweet kisses being trailed from the edge of her shoulder, to the back of her jaw.

'Jane!' she cried, habit preventing her from calling him Patrick.

He laughed softly, replacing his chin on her shoulder and giving her a soft squeeze, pulling her closer. Teresa gave him a playful shove with her elbow, smirking herself.

'What time is it anyway?' She pulled herself forward to look at the blue numbers on the digital alarm clock, slowly making sense of the lights. 'Shit!' she yelled, scrambling and almost falling out of bed.

Patrick laughed, watching his girlfriend stumble over her own feet as she ran for the bathroom.

'Why wasn't the alarm set?' Her voice travelled from behind the door, 'It's half nine Jane!'

'That's only...two and a half hours later than usual,' he replied, the amused expression on his face evident in his voice, 'Besides, I thought you might like the lie-in.'

'Two and a half... great. By the time we get there it'll be _three _hours! Minelli's going to shoot me...'

'Nahh. He wouldn't. He likes you too much.'

Teresa looked round the door and gave him a glare, her hair still in an odd tangle on one side, and a toothbrush stuck in her mouth.

'And he doesn't carry a gun,' Patrick added.

Teresa rolled her eyes, retreating back into the bathroom.

It was twenty minutes before they were both heading out the door, their stomachs unfilled, simply trying to get to work quickly. Well, that applied for Teresa anyway. Patrick? Not so much. He seemed to be dawdling for the fun of it, watching Teresa get a little frustrated over his reluctant, slow footsteps, and his lack of enthusiasm for the working day.

'What's up with you?' she asked, clambering up into the SUV's driving seat.

'The bed was warm,' he stated simply, 'And you were in it...before the clock interrupted us.'

Teresa rolled her eyes and shoved her key into the ignition as Patrick shut his door.

* * *

'Boss!' Van Pelt called to Lisbon as the small brunette walked from the elevator, the consultant trailing behind, his hands in his pockets and a mischievous smile on his face.

'Van Pelt?' Lisbon replied.

'Minelli wants to see you and Jane in his office A.S.A.P. And, we got a call out just now; Napa Valley, so you haven't missed too much. I'll wait for you in the SUV.'

Lisbon nodded, grimacing internally about the situation with Minelli, but keeping up the professional demeanour she had rebuilt on the way into the CBI, despite Jane's best efforts to foil her attempts.

'Ok, thanks. Jane? With me.'

'I wasn't aware I had been without you so far today,' he replied, a wide grin on his face as he followed behind her. Lisbon shot a glare behind her, while also checking that Van Pelt wasn't in earshot.

'Would you mind?' she muttered under her breath, 'Some level of secrecy would be nice, otherwise I'll put a zip on your mouth.'

'Oo...ok, lips sealed.'

'Good.'

Jane couldn't stop his smile from spreading as he continued to totter on behind Lisbon, casting a glance over his shoulder to see Van Pelt disappearing round the corner to the elevator. From a slight flick in the redhead's hair, Jane could tell she had been watching them as she'd walked away.

'Although I think she already knows.'

'Really?' Lisbon looked around a little nervously.

'Welll...it's not likely that Rigsby would be able to contain himself for this long.'

Lisbon groaned quietly. 'Damn blinds,' she muttered.

'It wasn't exactly the fault of the blinds now was it Lisbon.'

'Shh. I'll blame them if I want to.'

Jane smiled and shook his head as they came to stop in front of Minelli's office door. He could see Lisbon taking a deep breath in before she placed her hand on the door handle. Then she paused.

'Don't say anything stupid.'

'Why would I say something stupid?'

'In fact, don't say anything unless vitally necessary.'

'Wha...why?'

'Just don't.'

Lisbon pushed into the office, finding Minelli sat at his desk, doing something with his computer that involved a lot of clicking and file reference.

'Boss?'

'Ah, Lisbon, Jane, come in.'

Lisbon gave a weak smile to her boss before she stepped in further, followed by Jane who automatically took to wandering around the office like it was a suspect, or a victim's house. Lisbon gave him a suspicious look as he moved around with a quite innocent expression on his face.

'You wanted to talk to us?' Lisbon prompted.

'Yes. Yes I did... Well. I'm not entirely sure how to put this to you... uh... Jane?' Minelli looked across at Jane, who was still happily meandering around, not appearing to be paying attention.

'Mm?' the consultant replied, his lips clamped shut.

'You're listening?'

'Mm-_mm_,' Jane replied, nodding, still not letting a nanometre of space between his lips.

Minelli narrowed his eyes slightly, but returned to what he had been saying before once Jane had come to stand beside Lisbon, giving her a smile when she glared.

'From what happened last week, and what I saw from yesterday, and I don't mean to intrude on such a sensitive time with these things, Lisbon, but it's been clear to me that yourself and Jane have been considerably closer recently.'

Lisbon nodded, her gaze briefly flickering away from Minelli as she nodded.

'I've got to ask, because it's my job - not that I like it, but is there anything going on between you two?'

Jane leant forward slightly onto his toes, 'Hmm? Mm mm mm?' His finger pointed to himself and then Lisbon and back again. 'Mmmm, mm-mm,' he shook his head.

Lisbon elbowed him hard, showing no mercy. 'Stop it!' she whispered angrily.

'You told me I couldn't say anything...' he replied through gritted teeth.

'Shut up.'

'Exactly.'

Minelli watched their squabbling, a questioning, confused and suspicious expression all in one, on his face.

'I'm sorry boss,' Lisbon replied quickly, 'There's nothing happening between me and Jane.'

Minelli looked from the agent to the consultant, back to the agent, and back to the consultant. He gave a soft sigh and looked down at his desk briefly, tweaking a pen's position so that it was exactly parallel to the document beside it.

'He simply offered support over the time I was away.'

Minelli knew that Lisbon was lying, or at least not telling the whole truth. Even if Cho had been a good liar, Van Pelt and Rigsby hadn't. They had all been spoken to beforehand, when Jane and Lisbon hadn't arrived yet. The travelling gazes and stiffness during their replies had been enough to make it clear. Besides, never had he expected to see Jane with his arm around Lisbon, holding her much closer and more comfortingly than simply a friend would while at the funeral.

He sighed again, wondering what to do; not liking what the CBI rules required him to do.

'Lisbon, I may be old, but I'm not that easily fooled. Now, I know that Jane is only a consultant, and therefore not a proper member of the team...'

'Ouch...' Jane murmured.

'...But the situation still applies to the rules. No relationships within the unit...'

Lisbon nodded, her gaze travelling to her shoes, already hearing the inevitable words ringing in her head before they were even said.

'So that's why I'm going to tell you that if you can keep it professional at work, I won't say anything.'

Lisbon's eyes had been squeezed shut, waiting for something to be said that would effect her career or Jane's ability to work with the team, but the words actually said were not what she had been expecting.

'I don't want to have to lose either of you. Lisbon, you're the team leader, and Jane...you're too damn useful.'

'Thank you,' Jane replied with a smirk.

'Besides, if I do something about you two, I'll have to do something about Van Pelt and Rigsby, and I won't have my best team anymore.'

Lisbon was still stood in shock, but she just managed to swallow it down and utter a thank you. She nodding once, resisting the urge to hug Minelli or something.

'Don't make me regret this,' Minelli warned, 'Either of you.'

A swift nod from Jane and Lisbon, and they left quietly.

As they were walking back down the corridor towards the bullpen, and the elevator, Jane murmured in Lisbon's ear: 'Yeah, Lisbon, don't make him regret it.'

Lisbon elbowed him, causing him to smile widely, 'Me? I think I can control myself, Jane. I'm more worried about you.'

'How so?'

'Will you be able to keep your hands off me?' she asked, a smirk dancing on her lips.

'Let's hope so...' Jane winked when Lisbon turned to look at him.

Stepping into the elevator, just as the doors were closing, Jane leant down briefly and kissed Lisbon's cheek. It caused the blushing CBI Special Agent to send a flurry of slaps at Jane's arm, while all the consultant could do was grin... and try and shelter himself from the flapping hands attacking him.

* * *

'So, what did Minelli want to talk to you about?' Van Pelt asked, when Jane and Lisbon climbed into the SUV.

'Oh nothing...just some personnel issues,' Jane replied, before Lisbon could get in there, emphasizing the word to make it sound more like 'personal'.

If Lisbon had to hit that man, or glare at him again...

She could feel her life expectancy slowly dropping due to the extra stress that this situation was putting on her. And she thought that just having Jane as a colleague was stressful...

'Can we just go?' Lisbon asked hopelessly.

Van Pelt nodded, looking from Jane to Lisbon, before keying the engine and starting the journey to the crime scene.

* * *

'So what's the situation here?' Lisbon asked, striding alongside the sheriff as they ducked under the crime scene tape, and made their way across the field from the road to the crime scene.

'The body was found by the land owner, Jack Harrison, early this morning. Male victim; several stab wounds to the back. Looks like a body dump. Body hasn't been touched - we waited for you lot to arrive.'

Lisbon nodded, looking ahead at the body lying amongst the slightly overgrown grass. A slight wind picked up curls of her hair, blowing them across her face as she walked. She tucked them behind her ear as she arrived at the corpse-side. Lowering to her haunches, she looked over the body, front down on the ground, his head looking off to the left. His short dark hair was matted with blood, despite the lack of a blood pool to reach that far from the stab wounds.

'Well, this certainly doesn't look like the primary crime scene, there's not a lot of blood here,' Lisbon stated as she snapped on a pair of latex gloves. She quickly checked the body over for signs of an ID, patting down the pockets.

'Yeah, as we said,' the sheriff replied, looking over Lisbon's shoulder.

'He doesn't have a wallet on him - no ID... Jane? You going to help?' Lisbon called after the consultant, 'Or are you going to be guardian of the fields?'

Jane was stood looking out over the long stretches of grass before him, his hands deep in his pockets, like he was sworn protector of the land.

At the sound of Lisbon's voice, he turned his head, looking down at the body in the thick blades of browning grass.

'Uhh...wife did it.'

'Oh really?'

'Yep,' he replied, switching back to watching a gust of wind rustle the grass off in the distance, 'Knife crime equals crime of passion, personal... and there's a tan line around the wedding ring finger with deep red scratches. Suggests it was pulled off in anger, and the marks are far too deep for his nails, he's a biter.'

Lisbon looked down at the body again, seeing the marks Jane spoke of, and the short finger nails that didn't protrude off the fingers at all.

'So you're saying the wife caught him cheating? Snatched his ring off him?'

'Yep. Plus, he does look like the womanizing type.'

'I guess it's a fair first theory.'

'Mmm...' Jane replied, seeming to pause for a moment in thought before beginning to walk across the field.

'Uhh... Jane?' Lisbon called after him.

He stopped and swivelled on the spot, 'Lisbon?'

'Where are you going?'

'In..._that _direction,' he replied, pointing across the field to seemingly nowhere.

'Why?'

'Jane's stomach? Didn't get food this morning,' he shook his head, 'Jane's eyes saw food on the way in. Lisbon, this is the direction of food.'

'Wha-' Lisbon started, but switched speech for a huff as she looked back down at the body. Her stomach growled softly, reminding her of their lack of breakfast.

'Love you!' she heard from behind her. Her fiery gaze shot over her shoulder at the diminishing figure of Jane as he wandered into the distance, her cheeks burning. She couldn't have been more thankful that everyone seemed to be out of earshot - the sheriff having returned to his car to talk to a colleague, and Van Pelt, Rigsby and Cho busy searching the perimeter.

God, that man was so damn annoying... that was putting it far too lightly.

It was ten minutes before Jane appeared back at Lisbon's side, holding a box of strawberries in his hand and chewing on one as he swung the box round to offer Lisbon one.

'Strawberry?'

'That's breakfast?'

'When you're surrounded by fields, there are limited options Lisbon. At least I didn't come back chomping on grass... strawberry or not? If not, all the more for me.'

'Gimme a strawberry... And stop with your comments.'

'What comments?'

'The ones about our relationship. You really want to send me to my grave early?'

'That wasn't the intention...'

'Oh, there was an intention?'

'Uhh... no, not really.'

'Well stop it then. I preferred the Jane I was with before.'

Jane stopped chewing momentarily, and looked down at Lisbon. He switched to let his gaze travel over the fields, and commenced chewing again. He spoke quietly, 'Sorry.'

'You should be.'

She stared down at the body just as her pocket vibrated. Digging out her cell phone, Lisbon connected the call.

'Lisbon,' she spoke down the line, '...Boss... Why? ... What do you mean? ... Uh... Ok, where? Ok. Shall I get the rest of the team?... Ok.'

She cut the call, and called Rigsby, Van Pelt, and Cho over.

'Minelli's given us another case.'

'What about this one?' Cho asked.

'He's sending another team. He didn't say what the other case was, but apparently we've got to get there A.S.A.P, so let's go. Rigsby and Cho, if you're taking the car, the location is Heckleys Boulevard, yeah?'

Cho nodded, moving towards the silver-grey car sat outside the taped perimeter.

'Van Pelt? You coming in the SUV?'

'Yeah.'

'Jane? Come on.'

Jane nodded, promptly following behind Lisbon with the box of strawberries in hand. He was thinking up plans of how to make it up to Lisbon as he went.

* * *

It was a large derelict industrial building on Heckleys Boulevard where a coroner's van, a patrol car, and Minelli's car was parked beside the sidewalk. Lisbon's brows knitted together as she saw the boss' car. Parking up, she jumped out, followed by Jane and Van Pelt. Cho and Rigsby pulled in behind them, joining them to enter the building.

Lisbon heads-upped the officer just inside the door, 'What's going on?'

'Second floor,' he replied simply, his hands interlocked before him.

It was up two flights of stairs that a door appeared before the team, offering passage to the second floor. It opened up on a large floor, with almost nothing but pillars to support the ceiling, and the odd pieces of rubbish at the side of the rooms, showing evidence of homeless people, or kids using it as a hideout, maybe. Just a little further across the room, a small group of people were bustling around one spot. Minelli was stood just off to the side, observing the activity. When he saw Lisbon and Jane, followed by the other three emerge from the door, he began to walk towards them. His face was serious, worried.

'Good, you're all here,' he said, casting a brief glance at Jane as the consultant pushed up slightly onto his tippy-toes to try and see what was happening.

'We got an anonymous call out to this location about twenty minutes ago. When the responding officer saw the situation, he called me immediately.'

Minelli motioned for them to move towards the small crowd in the centre of the wide open floor. Through the odd openings in the shapes of the coroners and forensics teams, a thick scarlet blood pool could be seen surrounding a chair, spreading round in a slightly misshapen circle. Everyone was suddenly aware of the deep coppery scent in the air, when it filled their nostrils and clung to their taste-buds with a bitter metallic taste.

'I hope you're ready for this...' Minelli murmured, stopping just outside the small crowd as they began to disperse for the CBI agents.

'Oh my god...' Van Pelt murmured softly.

Lisbon coughed heavily as the body became visible, slumped in an old wooden chair, blood dribbling from so many cuts and injuries to the flesh. The man's eyes were wide open, terrified, in unimaginable pain. Apart from a pair of boxers, the body was bare, allowing access to the originally smooth pale skin, now marred with crimson smudges and droplets of blood.

At first, it just looked like a bloody mess, but on closer inspection, the cuts took form. A hundred or so Red John smileys decorating the skin, carved deep enough to cause torturous, horrific pain, and let the blood run thick and free from the body. They covered every inch of his visible skin apart from his face, devouring his flesh.

With her fist covering her mouth, Lisbon grimaced, only just managing to tear her eyes away from the corpse to check Jane's reaction. His jaw was clenching over and over again, and he looked like he wanted to be seeing anything but the body slumped before him, but he couldn't seem to take his gaze off it. He looked truly sickened and pale.

'Well, it's not Red John...' Lisbon managed to get out.

'I guess someone doesn't like that we caught him...' Cho murmured.


	3. Rewind

**A/N: I don't think I can even start to apologise for how long it's been since I've updated this story... utterly ridiculous. But it's been a long time since I could write fanfiction, and I've taken more to plushies recently... lots and lots of plushies... but tonight I suddenly felt up to writing, so I finished off this chapter. I hope I haven't lost everyone, as seems to have pretty much happened with Red Letters... but if there's anyone out there, I hope this is ok. :) **

Chapter 3. Rewind.

Jane stared down at the lifeless corpse of a man sent to his grave far too early, now spread across the autopsy table after having been rinsed, sliced open and examined from head to toe for hours. His eyes couldn't seem to depart from the masses of grinning, ugly faces tearing the man's flesh, which was now pale and blood free, showing the gnarled skin even more grotesquely in the fluorescent light. The sound of the coroner's voice was barely a whisper in the back of his mind. A slight shiver ran down his spine, causing him to dig his hands a little further into his pockets. He told himself he was an idiot to think that just because Red John was behind bars, it would be over. Far too many people had been drawn in by the heartless killer, and a gathering as dedicated as any they'd met before wouldn't let it go easily. Whoever did this had truly loved Red John, to take the time and effort to carve his calling card into someone's flesh over and over again. If what they had wanted was to send a message, it was sent. Jane mentally shook himself and properly tuned into the sound of the coroner's voice.

'No surprise with the cause of death - exsanguination due to the extensive cuts all over the body. I counted about sixty smileys. There's a small contusion to the back of the head, consistent with a blunt object - probably used to subdue the victim so that he could be transported to the site of the murder. Ligature marks on the wris-'

'Is there anything useful you can tell us that isn't so obvious?' Jane cut in. Lisbon looked up from beside him, noting the irritable edge in his voice.

For a few seconds, the coroner stared, clearly annoyed at being interrupted. She sighed heavily before reaching for a plastic bag on the table beside the dead man's head, 'Well we found a folded piece of paper inside the victim's mouth. The text just about survived. I believe it's for you.' She handed the bag to Jane. Jane studied the small piece of crumpled, slightly blood stained paper inside the bag. The writing was smudged a little, but still readable.

_It's not that easy, Mr. Jane. It's not over. Two more will die, and then I'm coming for you. _

_Say hello to RJ for me._

Jane stared, his pulse quickening ever so slightly. There were tears threatening to prick at the corners of his eyes. Not tears of fear, but tears of frustration. He desperately wanted to try and move on with his life, try as best as he could to leave it behind. Admitted, he would never truly be able to leave it behind, but he didn't need Red John's little minions chasing after him. Not now that Red John was locked up himself, awaiting the death penalty. If only it would just be _over_.

Handing the note to Lisbon, his hands snaked their way back into his pockets, digging deeper, searching for some source of comfort, or maybe reassurance. After all, whoever this was, they were coming for him, and if they weren't caught soon, he would be waking up from a concussion to find his skin being torn into by the face that haunted his nightmares. Or maybe worse...

Lisbon scanned over the note quickly before looking up at Jane, the lines on his face made deeper by the lighting. She could tell he was trying to look calm, but the straining of his jacket was evidence enough - the strength with which he was forcing his hands into his pockets, the fabric rippling and tensing, showed that he was anything but. She could imagine the pain and frustration that this was causing. He'd thought it was over, and now something new had appeared. Some follower of Red John was refusing to let it drop.

'You've finished with this?' Lisbon asked the coroner quietly, holding up the note.

Following the woman's nod, Lisbon pocketed the bag, 'Jane? Come on, let's go.'

Lisbon could see a flash of gratitude cross his face at the invitation to leave. He turned without giving the body another glance and headed for the doors. Offering a thank you to the coroner, Lisbon quickly followed.

It was inside the SUV that Lisbon finally decided to break the silence between them. Jane was sat staring out of his window, his head evidently full to the brim with thoughts and feelings. Lisbon lifted her hand and gently touched Jane's arm.

'You ok?'

'Fine.'

Lisbon paused for a moment. 'Don't worry. We're going to sort this.'

Jane looked into his lap, internally aching with the desire to curl up into a ball and hide away. He didn't want to feel the way he did. He wanted to be stronger, but he was growing tired of the never ending fight. All they'd managed to do was knock the sword out of Red John's hand so it could fall into someone else's.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lisbon ducking her head, trying to gain eye contact with him. An unenthused smile flickered weakly across his face as he looked up at her.

'I just thought...' Jane laughed softly at himself as he turned to look out the window again, 'I just thought I would be able to move on now. Get away from it all... at least the best I can. And now I find I'm going to be waking up in a few days... weeks... however long, to find myself being used as a human canvas by some guy with a knife.'

'Jane. Don't say that. They're not going to get to you. They're not going to have the chance.'

Again, a soft, bitter breath of laughter fell from Jane's lips.

Lisbon simply looked at him for a few moments, considering.

'Hey, cheer up. Or I'll have to get Cho to come round and knock your door down so I can buy you a new one. And then I'll have to hide strawberries. Don't make me do that Jane. Don't make me hide strawberries.'

This time, Jane genuinely managed to smile as he remembered how he'd tried to cheer Lisbon up when her brother had died. He saw Lisbon's smirk and felt his moods lift a little.

'Sorry.'

'CBI?'

With a nod from Jane, Lisbon placed one hand on the hot leather of the steering wheel and keyed the engine, bringing it to life.

* * *

'The victim's a John Doe for now - there was no I.D left on the body, and he wasn't on any databases. We can't do anything with him for now. Rigsby, see what you can find out about the location. Maybe it has some significance; any connections at all would be good.'

Rigsby nodded, quickly turning to his computer.

'Van Pelt, find out whether there's any useful surveillance nearby. Check for any suspicious vehicles or activities; the usual.'

Lisbon turned behind her to look at Jane, sat on his couch, staring into space. She knew what they would have to do now. She had to decide whether he was up to it though. Sure, he would say yes, but could he really cope with it? She sighed. She also knew that two people who had been hurt by the man, in the same room as him, wouldn't be a good idea. Lisbon was considering quietly asking Cho, but she knew Jane would be annoyed when he found out he hadn't been told. Sighing once more, she turned to Cho, issuing the instructions to help the other two in their research. Then proceeding to walk over to Jane, she stood in front of him, hands pushed into her pockets. She waited for him to respond.

Eventually, his eyes lifted to her face. 'Lisbon?'

'You feeling up to doing anything?'

'Of course.'

Lisbon took a seat next to Jane on the couch, feeling the desperate need to give him a hug, and get rid of the clear unhappy feelings he had. She resisted.

She took a deep breath. 'You know we're going to have to go and talk to Matthews?'

Jane looked down at his lap, fiddling with his fingers. 'Yeah.'

'You feeling up to it? I mean, I can ask Cho to come with me if you don't want to. He's only helping the others.'

'No. I'll go.'

'Sure?'

Jane nodded, picking himself up from the couch, ready to go.

'You coming?' he asked, looking back at Lisbon who was still on the couch, watching him with a look that questioned whether he was really going to be ok.

'I'll be fine!'

Eventually, Lisbon picked herself up, after watching a few 'come on then!' gestures from Jane.

It wasn't all because of Jane that she was waiting. She was internally asking herself the question, 'Are _you_ feeling up to it?'

Undoubtedly, Matthews would bring them back to the topic of her brother, and that wasn't something she really wanted to discuss at length.

Slowly, Lisbon managed to move forward. She kept telling herself, 'Left foot, right foot, left foot...' And it would all be fine. As long as she remembered how to walk, she could get there.

* * *

'Jane?' Lisbon broke the silence in the SUV.

'Yes?'

'What's going to happen if I feel like killing Matthews?'

Jane simply observed her for a moment. She was staring straight ahead, her knuckles turning paler on the steering wheel.

'You said you weren't letting it get to you.'

'I know what I said. But I didn't plan on having to go back and see him.'

Jane paused a moment. 'I'll be there.'

Lisbon switched her eyes from the road to the man beside her.

'What if you feel like killing him?'

'Then I'll remember what you said to me the last time. And the blinding pain you inflicted on my forehead with that towel.'

Lisbon looked back to the road, a slight smile brightening her face.

Jane smirked, looking out the window at the scenery flying past. He watched a bird swooping through the warm Californian sunshine, its feathers ruffling in the breeze. He always admired the way they seemed to deny gravity, floating effortlessly through the air. If only life could be like that. Smooth, easy. But he knew there were so many things a bird had to take into account to be able to fly. It was hardly effortless...

* * *

It was a dark, dull room. Not one for uplifting the mind or soul. Two small wire-meshed windows to the side let in a meagre amount of light, casting shadows across the floor behind the cold metal table and chairs. In the chair on the furthest side of the table, a man, Timothy Matthews sat hunched in an orange jumpsuit. He looked up at the sound of the gate opening across the other side of the room, observing the two figures moving through. His lips curved into a subtle smirk as he met gazes with the blonde male. He received a bitter glare in return, as the visitors took their seats opposite him.

'Good to see you again, Mr. Jane.'

Jane kept his poker face intact as he calmly seated himself.

'And you, Miss Lisbon,' Matthews said, turning his head swiftly to Lisbon, 'How have you both been?'

Lisbon focused on the case file that she opened out on the desk, picking out the photos and spreading them on the desk in front of Matthews.

'Do you know anything about this?'

'Not in the chatty mood eh...' Matthews murmured.

He watched Jane, who seemed to be staring intently at the pictures rather than let his focus slip to the man sat across the table. A smirk slipped across his face, as he observed the level of discipline Jane was trying to exercise. It sent exciting shivers through him when he saw the emotions he could make people experience, the feelings he could give.

He finally tore his eyes away, turning to the photos instead that Lisbon had put in front of him. Leaning forward with interest, Matthews studied the pictures closely.

'Hmm... maybe a little over the top... but it's nice to have admirers.'

'Do you know who might have done this?'

'Well if I answer that question you'll leave, and _we_ haven't caught up yet.'

'We didn't come here to _catch up_. We came to see if you had any information,' Lisbon replied, glaring at Matthews.

'Maybe I do, maybe I don't. What's it worth?'

'You're not getting anything out of this. Forget it. If we do this without you, we do it without you. Makes no difference to us.'

'It will if I _can_ tell you something.'

'Can you?'

Matthews gave only a smile in return, proceeding to look down at a particular photo before switching to Jane.

'Looks like you're in trouble my friend... Do you think you can catch him in time?'

'I'm not your friend,' Jane replied, avoiding the anger and taking the calmer option.

'You doubt it... interesting. You think you might not stop him in time. Well that's unlike you...'

'Can you help us or not?' Jane asked, ignoring Matthews.

'Sooner or later that facade is going to break... you'll either end up like me... or wearing a straight jacket, locked away in some far corner of a psychiatric hospital,' Matthews taunted.

'I'm never going to be like you. You're going to end up dead.'

'And so are you if you don't figure this out in time.'

Jane stood up abruptly. 'He doesn't know anything. Come on Lisbon.'

Lisbon gathered up the photos, pushing them back into the file as she too stood.

'Good luck!' Matthews called after them as Jane and Lisbon were let out. But the smirk on his face faded as they disappeared round the corner. He offset his jaw slightly, grinding his teeth a little. He knew, or was at least pretty sure. A strange shiver ran through him at the thought, until he quickly replaced the smile for the guard who entered the room to collect him.

* * *

'Well that was useless,' Jane muttered.

Lisbon sighed heavily as they climbed back into the SUV in the parking lot.

'We'll go back to CBI. Check up on the team and see what they've found. They've got to have something. Just because our route didn't get us anywhere, doesn't mean the others have found nothing.'

'I bet he knows.'

'What?'

'I bet he knows who's doing this. He's got to have some idea at least. He's just watching to see whether we can figure it out.'

'It doesn't matter, we're going to sort this without him. It's better off that way.'

A loud ringing filled the air inside the SUV just as Lisbon was about to key the engine.

Jane watched Lisbon reach into her jacket pocket and fish out her phone before switching to the view outside.

'Lisbon. ... ... ... We'll be there as soon as we can.'

Lisbon snapped her phone shut, sighing again as she dropped it back in her pocket and twisted the key in the ignition.

'We've got another one.'


	4. A Light Flickers in the Dark

_**A/N: I, am a horrible, horrible person. I am so sorry. I said I would try and publish earlier this time... now look. I even started writing as soon as I published the last chapter. Well, it took a stupidly long time, but I finally got the inspiration and ability to get it finished. Probably well and truly lost everyone by now but... come back? :c**_

_**I hope anyone out there who reads this enjoys. Reviews would be lovely, but I have no-one to blame but myself if no-one does so.**_

_**But, on a happier note, I've realised that I'd managed to name the second victim the same as Simon Baker's (Patrick Jane) character in Not Forgotten. Well done Becky. I knew I recognised Jack Bishop from somewhere. xD**_

Chapter 4. A Light Flickers in the Dark.

The familiar tang of copper in the air, the same dark, dark shadows circling the room like vultures, the same harsh shivers rocketing down the spine. Only this time, there was a fear, a dread that wasn't there before. It gave a sour twist to the cocktail of emotions swirling in Jane's stomach.

One more down. Only one more to go. Then it would be him.

He lifted his sleeve to his mouth, coughing into it as the smell grew stronger.

He stood two metres back from where the dark crimson pool had begun to congeal. His knees were aching with weakness, and he wished that he was in the bullpen, the couch behind, ready to catch him in its soft and cooling embrace. But no such luck. If he fell, he would meet the cold dark reality of concrete, just like the reality of what was in front of him, hitting him hard in the stomach.

His eyes were swimming a little, and a cold fist clutched at his heart, each beat painful to his chest. Light-headed, it felt like he would float away; a balloon with a snipped string, floating away in the wind, away from the firm, safe grip of its owner. But that was when he felt Lisbon's hand brush against his, and he was suddenly grounded; caught and tethered to the ground. Their fingers entwined, carefully concealed amongst their jackets that wrapped round like a cloak.

The warmth of Lisbon's hand seeped upwards and inside him, sending a calming wave throughout his body, replacing the cold shivers with rippling heat. Jane revelled in it, almost losing himself to a daydream, but the distinct metallic smell and taste were enough to keep him in the room he was stood.

He managed to focus his concentration now, despite the sickening feeling in his stomach, and he looked over the body. It was the same. A man, stripped down to his boxers, ruined flesh surrounding each cut and incision. Skin was stained scarlet, and fear was etched onto the face; a face that was becoming etched in Jane's head. But this was no etch-a-sketch, and Jane wouldn't be able to shake it off. He swallowed.

His eyes travelled, taking it in, looking for something, or anything that would be helpful. No matter the fear in his stomach, there was a part of him that was dead focused, and he had to be able to find something before he was next. He watched the coroner examine the body, and this time she looked at the mouth, seeing if there was a note like the first victim.

Jane's heart skipped, painfully, when the piece of paper emerged, caught between the tweezers in the coroner's hand. She carefully unfolded it, her eyes flitting over the text before depositing it into an evidence bag. She glanced at Jane briefly as she did so, before turning and walking round the blood pool to where he stood, offering it to him with some hint of interest. Anticipation.

Jane took the bag, turning it in his grasp to the right way up, the plastic crinkling around the damp, blood-dashed note.

_I seem to be holding all the cards here, Mr Jane. _

_Would you like a sporting chance?_

_His name is Jack Bishop._

'Jack Bishop. We've got to look into Jack Bishop, Lisbon.'

'Who?'

Jane handed Lisbon the note, urgency plastered all over his face. She skimmed over it quickly, looking up at Jane's face. He was itching to move - like he wanted to run from the building now, break the speed limit on the way back to the CBI and do all the research himself; find out whatever could be found out about Jack Bishop. Find his ticket out of here - off the allegorical, inescapable conveyor belt that was slowly dragging him towards the fire.

His expression screamed at her to move, and they excused themselves from the crime scene, bringing the rest of the team, not waiting for anything else to be found, because there would be nothing else more important than that note. That name. Who was Jack Bishop, and what happened to him?

* * *

The SUV slowed to a stop in the parking lot of the CBI headquarters, and Jane dashed from the car, though he didn't leave Lisbon behind. He stood at the front of the vehicle, wind-milling his arms in front of him to usher her on.

'Ok, I'm coming!' she called, irritated, as she secured the SUV with a thunk of the central locking system. He'd been muttering at her pretty much the entire journey to go faster, fidgeting in his seat and dancing his fingers across the door handle in anticipation for the end of the journey.

She made after Jane as he could clearly stand in the same spot no longer than a second or two, and had half-walked, half-jogged through the entrance into the building.

She muttered inwardly: 'Wait for me, would you?'

Lisbon just about managed to reach elevator in time. She slipped through the remaining, rapidly closing gap, half falling into the suspended box beside Jane, who was tapping his foot against the floor, struggling to remain still.

'I do want to be kept a part of this too, Jane. Try not to leave me behind.'

There was a brief pause in both speech and foot tapping. '...Sorry. I just-'

'I know... but this is important to me too. I want to stop this as much as you do.'

Lisbon threaded her fingers through Jane's and squeezed a little, maybe a small gesture to remind him that he really did mean a lot to her.

The doors were open once more, and fingers were untangled, returning to Minelli's request of a professional working relationship.

It was only when Jane reached the bullpen that he realised he actually needed everyone else - he didn't, and couldn't function the computers without a login, and a knowledge of how to use the databases.

'Where's Van Pelt?' he asked, standing next to the agent's desk, picking up a pen to look at it for no real reason. Adrenaline was pumping through his veins, making his head rush, and he just felt the need to be _doing _something. He kept the pen in his grasp and began clicking it furiously, drawing a worried look from Lisbon.

The elevator doors pinged open once more, and Jane's answer was given. Van Pelt, Cho and Rigsby entered onto the floor, spotting Jane and Lisbon in the bull pen and made their way over.

'What's the problem?' Rigsby asked, a look of equal confusion on each agent's face.

'No problem,' Jane began, 'They gave us a name. The name of the last victim.'

'Why would they do that?' Cho interjected.

'I don't know why, but they're giving me a chance. We need to look up anything and everything on Jack Bishop.'

'What if we don't find anything helpful? It could have just been a ruse.'

'We don't know until we've looked, do we? So let's go!' Lisbon replied, trying to keep the hopes up on Jane's behalf.

In a flurry of agents, three out of five people standing were now at their desks, typing at their keyboards furiously.

'Look for CCTV: any suspicious vehicles or activity around the building we found the body in. Find out where he worked - was he reported missing? Maybe the other victim worked in the same place - check for any other missing person's reports around the same area. You know the drill. We need to look at everything,' Lisbon pushed, 'There's got to be a reason we were given this name, and we've got to find it.'

She glanced over at Jane, giving a reassuring smile, 'They'll find something.'

Jane nodded, a smile on his lips that his eyes just didn't reflect, no matter how hard he tried, but there was a flickering flame of hope in his heart - a tiny light that he was determined to keep alive. His gaze switched to his shoes for a moment before he moved towards the break room, a desperately needed cup of tea in order to calm his nerves; the hug in a cup that his whole being was crying out for. If he couldn't have the peace of knowing that he was going to survive, let him at least have a cup of tea.

* * *

Lisbon remained stood in the bull pen for a moment, watching Jane leave to brew a cup of tea in the break room. His foot was tapping again as he waited for the kettle to boil. He needed to relax. Just turn off for a little while, but she knew that would be impossible. The current situation, accompanied by Jane's inability to just... _stop_, would not let him do such a thing. She knew he wasn't going to be able to sleep, and he would do everything he could to keep everyone else up until this was solved.

Lisbon glanced at her watch. 12.21am.

There was no chance of getting Jane to go willingly back to the apartment to get some rest. Two of the three victims had been knocked off in one day. There was no time to lose. The killer seemed to be as erratic and hyped up as Jane.

That sudden realisation of how little time they truly had wedged a feeling of nervous panic into Lisbon's stomach. The only thing they could do, apart from investigate Jack Bishop, was to hope that there would be some kind of delay in the picking of the next victim.

Or maybe the first two had been killed in such close proximity to create panic - to generate as much fear in Jane as possible. Maybe there would be a much longer wait before the next victim.

Maybe something would go wrong on their side.

* * *

He paces up and down the room, anger growing, feeding the ugly creature which lies inside him, so close to rearing its head and making him lash out as the shouting continues.

'I mean, what the hell do you think you're doing? How are you helping us at all? Did you even think this through at _all_ before you _KILLED TWO PEOPLE_?' She screams at him, his very _face_ making her mad. 'How do you think this is going to end? You're going to get caught, and you're going to end up tied to a friggin' bed with a _lethal injection in your arm_! You're helping _NO-ONE_!'

'I'm not going to get CAUGHT!' he yells back at her, his fuse shortening at a terrifying pace. He tightens his hands to clenched fists, hoping the pain he's exerting on his palms with his fingernails will distract him just enough to stop him hitting her.

'_I'm not going to get caught...' _she mimics under her breath, 'how the FUCK do you _KNOW_ THAT LLOYD!'

'Because once he's dead and I'll _disappear!' _he replies, his eyes throwing daggers as he claps his hands right in front of her face.

She shuts her eyes against him, clenching her jaw and grinding her teeth. 'And what do expect to _achie-_' she opens her eyes again, expecting to throw a few daggers right back at him, but he's no longer stood in front of her. In fact, he's nowhere to be seen.

She suddenly jumps as she feels his hands pinch at her sides. She spins, her hair whipping round her neck as she glares at him angrily.

He only laughs. A deep laugh that angers her, but terrifies her at the same time. And then his face is dead pan again. 'See. I'll get him when he least expects. Leave nothing behind. And just _go._'

'And tell me, what is the point in this whole master plan of yours? How is it going to help him?'

'If he has to die, I want him to know that he won.'

'Oh great, Lloyd, yeah, let's all put our _own _lives on the line to make sure he can die a happy man. Great. Well thought out. At least before he dies, he'll know there's another guy that's DEAD AS WELL! That's the most pathetic idea I've ever heard! You could have at least arranged a bloody _prison break_!' Her hands fly in the air in despair. 'Did you ever think that he'd rather die knowing that the guy he'd emotionally damaged the _most_, would live on suffering?'

She glares at him, as he does in return, trying to find something in his brain that he can fire back, but he's stuck.

'You're a moron,' she mutters, shaking her head and beginning to turn away from him.

But he grabs her first, sending the back of his hand flying into the side of her face. It's the only thing he can do. His fuse has blown, and all argument is out the window. She's left reeling on the other side, her eyes stinging with tears and her cheek prickling with bright red. He heaves a heavy breath into his lungs and stumbles back a little, running a hand through his hair.

* * *

'Jane?'

Lisbon leant against the wall at the entrance to the break room. Jane was stood up against the counter, resting back while blowing the steam across the tea's surface in a day-dreamy haze. When he finally realised that his name had been called, his foot paused its tapping and he looked up.

'Have they found anything?' he asked automatically.

'No, I... I don't know. They've only just started.' Lisbon took a moment.

The tapping began again.

'Jane, you need some rest.'

'What? I'm fine.'

His gaze skimmed from Lisbon, to his feet, to Lisbon again, and he stopped the tapping, which was getting progressively faster. He took a sip of tea.

'You've been under a load of stress today, and it's getting late now - you're clearly too wound up, and you need some rest.'

'What makes you think I could actually sleep right now? There's only one left to go, and a whole load of information we need to uncover before that happens. We can stop him, he'll have left something behind, he must have, otherwise we won't get him and I'll...' He gulped down the rest of the tea in a bid to drown out the nervous feeling settling in the pit of his stomach again. He'd spoke at a speed which clearly indicated he was in no fit state to work, and he'd inadvertently started tapping his foot again about half way through.

Lisbon moved forward to lean back on the counter beside Jane. She placed her hand over his, that he was using to steady himself a little, the counter the only solid thing he felt he could find.

'We will stop him, but you're in no fit state to do anything. The team's got the research covered - there isn't anything for you to do. Please, Jane. Just try and get at least a little rest.'

Jane looked into Lisbon's eyes, his eyes tired despite his best efforts to show that he was alright.

'I'll wake you up if we find anything.'

Jane sighed.

'Besides, if you keep that up, we're going to have a whole in the floor,' Lisbon tried a smile, nodding towards Jane's foot and nudging his arm with her shoulder.

He just managed a tiny, weak smile of his own. 'You'll wake me?'

No matter how hard he tried, he knew he needed the rest, even if his head screamed no. Lisbon was right. There was nothing he could do at the moment, and he was no use when he was tired out of his mind anyway. He succumbed to the demand of rest and slowly pushed himself of the side, putting his cup and saucer in the sink.

'Of course. Now, come on, you can use my couch.'

Lisbon placed her flat palm to the small of Jane's back and gently led him to her office, rubbing soft circles with her hand as they stepped through the door. Jane removed his jacket, throwing it over the back of the nearest chair before lowering himself onto the couch, and onto his side, curling up a little. He yawned, punching the cushion up a bit underneath his head.

Lisbon reached for the blanket that lay folded atop the back of the couch and shook it out, laying it over Jane carefully.

'Try and get some rest,' she whispered softly, placing a hand on his cheek and then running it through the blonde curls as she placed a kiss to his forehead.

Jane shifted his head a little so he could face upwards. He gave Lisbon a soft, sleepy smile and she leant down again to press another kiss to his lips this time.

'It's going to be ok.'


End file.
